


Trains & Shoulders

by Kairos27universe



Category: Persona 4, Persona Series
Genre: F/M, He swears here, Introspection, Other Characters Are Mentioned, Self-Acceptance, Yosuke kinda dealing with bisexuality, Yosuke's POV
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-30
Updated: 2019-08-30
Packaged: 2020-09-30 17:16:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,511
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20450720
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kairos27universe/pseuds/Kairos27universe
Summary: On the train back to Inaba after the events of P4D, Yosuke finds someone lying their head on his shoulder. Someone he usually ends up keeping his distance from, because of things he felt waay back when he met them. Those were issues he should have gotten over by now, but when it's about himself... his dumb brain deflects.Cue a lot of introspection, recollections, embarrassment, blushing, swearing at himself... While the detective just sleeps comfortably.





	Trains & Shoulders

**Author's Note:**

> I started writing this a loong time ago, and always struggled with it, rewriting and removing stuff constantly. I was kinda insecure if I could portray themes appropriately and coherently, and looking at the finished product, I can safely say that..... I don't think I nailed that lol
> 
> Buut anyways I thought it would be better to just finish and post it, instead of leaving it in the fridge. Soo here it is

_…?_

_…Oh yeah, the train…_

Yosuke’s eyes slowly opened as he glanced to his right, looking outside the window as the scenery changed constantly, like a conveyor belt that got too fast. Everything was dark, except the lights of the city far away, and the stars twinkling all over the sky.

Their destination was Inaba. After literally dancing their way to victory over at the Midnight Stage and participating in the Love Meets Bonds festival, they were all heading back for a much needed rest. Even Yu and Naoto, who had been in the big city for some time, were going back with them. Yukiko had offered to have them all stay one day at the Amagi Inn, which was promptly accepted by everyone. It didn’t seem like they were going to the hot springs so soon, though. Everyone was dead tired and longing for their sleep, so when they arrived (_at, I don’t know, 5, 6 AM?_) they’d just fall over their futons and pass out ‘till maybe 2 PM.

“Ugh…”

He realized his ears were hurting, so he went for his MP3 and turned the music off as fast as he could. He still had his headphones on when he dozed off, and since his playlist was on repeat, the songs just kept playing over and over even as he was unconscious. Yosuke cursed himself mentally for letting this happen, since it meant he’d need to abstain from listening to music for some time for his ears to get better. It would be kinda inconvenient…but well, at least he’d recover. The boy reached for his headphones and removed them, letting them rest around his neck.

_…?_

Yosuke got hit by a sudden awareness. There was…something leaning on his left shoulder.

He turned his head, not really sure what to expect. _Was it Teddie?_ _No_, he remembered now, the bear had sat with Nanako; he was sure of it because he had a clear memory of them both happily laughing together on the trip, before he fell asleep. Who was, then, that had sat with hi-

Hanamura instantly froze as his eyes adjusted to the low lighting inside the bus, and he saw…Naoto.

Her head was laid down on his shoulder. She was sleeping on him.

It took him a few more seconds to fully process this. She was **very** close to him, the side of their arms touching. Her face was not visible, covered by her hat that was kinda hanging from her head, like it could fall over at any moment. But he could sense her breathing: slow, and soft. And he could feel her warmth…

_Wait. Wait. Wait. Time out. Don’t let your thoughts venture in creepy territory, Hanamura. She’s asleep right now, don’t be a creep. Additionally, she has a gun._ _Wait, she wouldn’t have brought it with her here! …**Would she?!**_

He tried to clear his mind, and make sense of what was happening. He did remember sitting with Naoto… Normally he would be with Yu, or Kanji; his two guy friends. Yosuke had a last minute urge to go to the bathroom, however, so he ended up being the last one of them to get in the train, not really getting a chance to pick a seat and having to go with her.

N-not that he had anything against the detective, on the contrary: to him, she was a very cool and reliable friend. And oookay, he admitted that he found her to be pretty cute; especially now that she was expressing herself more to the group. She had been experimenting with a slightly longer haircut, and more casual and comfortable clothes; they were different, but welcome changes. Though back to her boyish appearance now, she still managed to get a lot of glances from him… Just like back when-

He instinctively cut short this thought as a confused frown appeared on his face. _What am I saying…?_ It wasn’t the first time his mind went in this direction. Fantasizing over Naoto was all fine and dandy until he’d remember she wasn’t exactly the most feminine girl ever (_even by Chie standards!_), and started questioning himself and his… tastes. There were times when he’d shoo this away from his head by reassuring himself she was still a girl; and there were others when he’d remember when he met her last year, as a guy, and...

…And his coward brain would cut him off by throwing another girl, any girl, in his mind to distract him. This process had happened in his head a few times in the past, and after all of them he’d feel pretty pathetic.

A sigh slowly left his mouth. He was certainly not that closed-minded jerkass from one year ago (something he owed mostly to the good influence of his best friend Yu in him over time, including some almost therapist-like conversations), so why did it still get to him so much when it was about _himself_?

Was it so hard for his damn brain to just accept he found her very attractive, even with the masculine looks? (Some could say maybe it was partly because of it? B-but who knows?! H-he certainly didn’t) …And maybe it could, like, not shy away from the subject by plucking a random nurse’s boobs from his memory and tossing that image at him…?

“Pathetic, Yosuke Hanamura...” He whispered to himself, and after a few seconds he remembered she was still on his shoulder. It was funny how Naoto Shirogane was the source of all this… introspection, and yet was none the wiser, just sleeping unaware beside him.

He turned his head to look at her. Should he wake her up? She seemed to be sleeping nicely, so he’d feel bad from taking that away from her. And well, when she does wake up, she’ll probably get all flustered and apologize, saying things like “_It was an accident!_”, or ”_I’m so sorry Senpai!_”. Yosuke couldn’t help but smile at the thought. Even in denial about crushing on her, he knew he could not lose the opportunity to see that, and maybe tease her a little about it later.

……_Crushing_? He felt surprised at himself for thinking this. _Oh man, did I really get that deep in this even after all the time trying not to think about it_? He almost shook his head to dispel these thoughts, but then remembered her hat was in a position prone to falling with any harsh movement, and that could wake her up. Hanamura looked back at Naoto, and after a few seconds of staring went for her hat and delicately took it off her head. He stayed focused on the task until it was safe and balanced over his legs, and only then looked back at her.

And that was his undoing.

With her hat gone, he could _really_ see her now; and from up close, to boot. Her long and delicate eyelashes, a calm sleeping expression, slow and controlled breathing, and a mouth that seemed as soft as it seemed unreachable. All he could do for quite a long moment was stare at her with his mouth open, in a dumbfounded manner.

_Man, she is… She is beautiful. _

_And well, guess I could say she is also… Handsome…?_

He couldn’t deny anymore that he was, indeed, crushing on the detective. He had been for a long time. In fact, ever since he first saw her, when she presented as a guy. And Yosuke had been avoiding this fact profusely, for even if he now knew that she wasn’t a guy _and_ that she was (apparently) comfortable as a girl, it didn’t change the fact that he liked her as a boy first anyway.

Of course, for the longest time it was easy to pretend it didn’t happen. And he had many ways to do this! Either by momentarily twisting it into anger when the detective suggested they were merely playing a game with their investigation; or thinking about other girls, like his stupid brain would often do; or helping her, nonchalantly trying to insert her into the group because ‘_he is a transfer student, just like us!_’. Hell, even by teasing Naoto and Kanji about the latter’s crush on her, even if it hurt a bit due to his own crush. Yosuke was a **specialist** in disguising his innermost feelings like this.

He put his hand over his face, feeling his cheeks getting warmer. Naoto was sleeping so close to him... It was much different than just looking at a distance, and he wasn’t sure if he could handle it. After all, they were never really physical with each other, not even with handshakes and the like, and that helped immensely with ignoring the fact he liked her. He felt that maybe if they were the type to hug each other, for example, this ‘breakthrough’ moment would have happened _much_ sooner. Having Naoto - the same Naoto from back then, the pretty boy who seemed so distant, and collected, and cool, like a movie protagonist - sleep on his shoulder was really thrilling and scary at the same time.

Though his stupid brain did feel relief when they found out she was a girl, he wasn’t like Kanji, who had no qualms about (apparently) forgetting her initial cross-dressing and just liking her as if nothing happened. No, to Yosuke, allowing himself to freely feel things for her would always make him remember that initial moment; and make him question his, um… preferences. Was that even the right word for it? Probably not...? He’d have to ask Yu about that, later.

...If he had the guts to breach that subject with his partner.

_Dammit_, he thought. Maybe it’s not that Kanji forgot, but rather, he was just so strong and well-resolved that he had no issues with this situation. And honestly, he shouldn’t have issues too. Kanji had to face the actual manifestation of his internal struggles head on - that steamy bathhouse and its towel-clad ruler - and appeared to have mostly dealt with that stuff and conquered himself by now.

Meanwhile, he is a coward. The Prince of Junes can’t even admit some silly feelings? _Hah!_ **“_Dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb..._”** His brain started echoing repeatedly to him. Or was it him calling his brain dumb?

...Maybe he should stop this err... discussion with his imaginary talking organ and start thinking maturely. At the end of the day, he knew he had feelings, and he knew there was nothing wrong with that. Of course, it took him some serious talks with his best friend, some deep conversations, for him to somewhat overcome his – what was the word Yu used? – ...bigotry. He wasn’t perfect, not quite there yet, but he was _better_. And if there was space for improvement – why not improve _right now_? If he had been striving to be less of a jerk to people, why not do that... towards himself too?

He turned to look at Naoto now.

...

_Fuck it_.

“I like you.” It was just a whisper. Just a faint breeze leaving his lips, barely audible even to himself. “I...liked you before. As a... boy.” His breath stops as he says it, but he forces himself to inhale and exhale, slowly. _Just do it, idiot. Say what you’re feeling._ “I like you now... as a girl... o-or whichever you see yourself as...” He made a quick correction; she never said it out loud, so him thinking she was comfortable as a girl was still only an assumption from the clothes she would _sometimes_ wear nowadays. She didn’t seem to talk about that to anyone but his partner, he imagined. How could he know what or how she actually felt, and thought? About that, about so many things, in fact?

He wanted to know that. He wanted to _ask_ her that. He wanted to ask her a lot of things. He wanted to know more about her. Wanted to know things she would tell him. Wanted to know things she would _only_ tell him. And he--

_Fuck. _

His face was crimson right now, as he stopped his stream of consciousness abruptly. He realized suppressing his crush on Naoto for so long made the admittance now all the more intense. Damn, was he in love or something?!

...

Maybe he was.

....................

He almost let out a sound similar to howling when realizing this, but quickly bit his hand to suppress it, so it just came out as a low yelp. _Yosuke McFucking Hanamura in love_!! Imagine **Chie** hearing this. She’d have a laughing fit that’d rival Yukiko’s.

His face was still burning and his hand was sore now. His bite may have been too strong... But he didn’t want to cause a scene. Damn, feelings are so damn hard to navigate...! No wonder he usually deflected so much in his daily life.

He turned to look at Naoto. All this maelstrom of thoughts going on with the Prince of Junes, and the Detective Prince didn’t even move!! That was actually funny. Not much of a surprise though, with how quietly she was sleeping.

She seemed so… peaceful? She must have been very tired. They were all tired, of course, from the intense dancing... But maybe she still wasn’t very used to it, so now she was getting herself a well-deserved sleep.

_On my obviously very comfortable shoulder, of course_, he thought with a chuckle.

Did she doze off on her seat, and then just…fell over him? That would be like, consuming all of his remaining luck for the year! Which wasn’t much luck to begin with, mind you. There’s also the possibility of…

..._Nah, no way._ She wouldn’t willingly lie on him like that. He could see her maybe doing that to Yu (obviously…), but to _him?_

Another quick chuckle left his mouth, this time with a mix of sadness in it. She definitely just fell over him while sleeping, on accident, and would hastily move away as soon as she woke up and realized it.

_Yup, that was it. Mystery solved. Well done, great detective Hanamura!_ He thought in irony, as a sharp melancholy hit him. Getting to terms with his feelings, admitting stuff he felt about Naoto was… a good initiative, but what was the point if she didn’t like him back?

Yosuke shook his head and looked again at his detective friend, trying to push away this depressing thought as his pupils darted back and forth. Just because she didn’t sleep on his shoulder on purpose this _one_ time, it didn’t mean he had _no chances at all_, right?

_...But boy, it will sure suck whe-- **if** she doesn’t like me back. A particularly harsh rejection to add to my (actually not that long) List of Rejections..._

The boy noticed a few bangs from her hair had fallen over her eyes. Yosuke felt a bit guilty, since it was probably due to his head shaking just now. _Should I…?_ He started pondering. It wasn’t creepy, right? He’d just take them off her face so she could sleep more comfortably, like, I don’t know, a good friend would do.

_I mean, I’m at least that right now, right?_

He felt a little daring, so soon he was reaching out to Naoto’s face slowly with his free hand. Then, doing his best to not wake her up, he used his fingers to move the hair bangs away from her eyes. In doing so, his fingertips lightly touched her forehead, like a gentle caress; something his goddamn brain didn’t fail to notice.

It seemed like Shirogane didn’t fail to notice either, because two seconds later her eyes opened, and she looked straight at him.

Yosuke’s breathing completely stopped the moment he noticed. His heartbeat, on the other hand, got furiously quick. He cursed himself mentally; did he really manage to wake her up even though he was being so careful?!

“Um…” She started saying. This made the boy remember inhaling air was a necessity for human beings like him to remain alive.

“I- I- I’m sorry, I was just…! I mean, your hair was on your face, so I thought I should-“ He stuttered while trying to keep his voice low, but stopped when he noticed Naoto shyly moving away from his shoulder. _Aww man…It was good while it lasted, I guess…_

“N-no, it’s okay, Yosuke-senpai…! I should be the one apologizing.” He felt confused; apologize for what? He looked straight at her, and despite the dark ambient, he could see that her cheeks were tinted with a reddish hue. “I was the one to irresponsibly fall over you while I was about to fall asleep, so… I’m sorry.” She was looking down, seeming apologetic; she’d probably try to hide her face with her hat if it was on her head. That’s what Yosuke would have thought, if he didn’t have something else on his mind.

_That wording was…weird, wasn’t it?_ Hanamura pondered, his eyes looking nowhere in particular. He knew Naoto was one to try and use specific and exact terms, so saying she fell over him when **about** to fall asleep meant she… His thought was cut short as he suddenly noticed she was now staring fixedly at him. Yosuke felt she was probably expecting some answer, and what his stupid brain first suggested was, of course, teasing her. He had to use all his willpower to hold that back; he didn’t want to risk putting his foot in his mouth in this situation, so after a few seconds he managed to craft a more polite response.

“H-hey, don’t worry, Naoto! No need to be sorry about that. It’s okay, really.” He said, trying to sound as serious as possible.

“I see…” Her eyes went down to her hands, which were resting over her legs. Yosuke kept looking at the blushing detective for a few more seconds, without realizing. When he finally did, he immediately turned his head to look forward. **_CREEP ALERT, YOSUKE_**. His mind shouted at him. _Don’t stare too much. Will just make things awkward, and make you look like a creep._ He inhaled and then exhaled quietly but slowly, trying to calm his heart.

A whole minute passed, as they sat in an awkward silence.

Yosuke did not wish for this to continue until the ride was over. He still had a bit of dare in him from before, so he decided to psych himself up. “Hey.”

“W-what?” Naoto was caught off-guard.

_Gosh, what do I say now_? “Um... You... Really don’t have to worry about that. T-the shoulder thing, I mean. It wasn’t bad or anything, a-and you seemed pretty tired so... I thought I should let you sleep.”

Shirogane pondered for a moment. “I-I understand... I must thank you then.” She let out a sigh. “I was definitely tired... Dancing was quite fun and intense, and I didn’t feel it back then, but as soon as my body stopped moving... The restlessness hit me.” She finished with a chuckle.

_Cute_.

He suddenly remembered he had few opportunities to see her dance, but when he did see, he got surprised at how good she actually was! He didn’t take her for the dancer kind. And back when they were fighting the goddess of evil dancing and fake bonds or whatever (he was too stressed to remember her name), Naoto sure made a great show together with Kanji.

...He felt a bit jealous now.

“H-huh, yeah! And I gotta say, you danced really well. Didn’t expect the Detective Prince to be a Dancing Prince too! Those were some good moves!”

“Y-you’re exaggerating, I was no better than everyone else. In fact...” She fixed her gaze on him. Her eyes seemed...to be glinting? “...I must commend **you**, Yosuke-senpai! Your dancing skills are quite impressive.”

“Y-you think?” His mouth went agape in surprise.

“Yes! I heard you boasting when Rise announced we were dancing with her for the festival, and was a bit skeptical of you, I admit... But that vanished when I actually saw you dance in the filming of the commercial for the Love Meets Bonds. It was clear you knew what you were doing and liked doing it. I wanted to be like that too... So it made me more motivated to keep training, while enjoying it. To dance as skillfully as you!”

_W-w-w-w-w-w-w-what was she saying_?! “B-but... You had Yu and Rise training with you too!! I imagine they were some great role models, right? You couldn’t get anyone better than them, probably, haha...”

“They most certainly were. But you were a great role model, too, senpai. And then today, we all danced together against Mikuratana-no-Kami... And I noticed you again. You seemed to be giving all you’ve got, and... And it propelled me to give my best, too!” She seemed to blush a bit with this admittance, but failed to notice Yosuke too was blushing immensely.

** _‘I noticed you.’_ **

She had no idea how... how fucking _awesome_ it was to hear that from her.

_Gosh, this is too... Too much for me to handleeee... _

“I...” His heart was beating fast. “T-thank you, Naoto. It’s...I’m really glad to hear that from you. I...”

She had a small smile in her mouth, slightly embarrassed yet sincere. Seeing that smile that he liked so much made him keep talking before he could stop himself.

“I noticed you too, ya know.”

“...You...?” She was visibly confused. “You noticed me...?”

_He_ was visibly confused too.

_Fffffffffuck! Why did I say that?!_

“I...!”

“O-oh, you mean, my dancing, right?” She chuckled, confusion being replaced by what seemed like a cheerful expression. “I thank you once again. I’m happy to know my efforts were fruitful.”

“Y-yeah, like...” He started thinking on the excuse she unknowingly made for him. It was so convenient... Would be easy as hell to just agree with her and keep things as they were. Back to the status quo.

But was that what he wanted? After the whole... brainstorming session with her on his shoulder? About confronting his feelings? Is keeping things stale the best thing to do?

No.

"No."

_Might as well confront it now, right?_

"...No?"

"I mean, yeah, your dancing was amazing! But I actually meant something else..."

She slightly turned her whole body to his direction, while looking fixedly at him. This, plus the expression she had, showed utmost curiosity at what he was saying. He felt a rush of exhilaration at his crush paying so much attention at him... And at the realization that this was the _perfect moment to confess_, and that she was absolutely going to hear it!!!

_FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFUCK--_

_\--Well, no way to turn back now._

“I noticed you... E-ever since you came to town, to investigate the murders. And... when you came to our school, t-too.”

Naoto’s face seemed perplexed, giving away that she was not entirely understanding. Yosuke was having difficulties with what to say next, which gave her time to start talking. “...Well, yes, that’d be the time you and the others met me, correct? You... I remember you calling me ‘pint-size detective’ the day I first went to classes.” Her face shifted into her signature disappointed face, albeit still with a slight pink in her cheeks.

“No, that’s...!”

_That’s totally true._

“...That’s... totally true. Sorry, I didn’t really know what to say back then, I was so surprised!! Didn’t expect you to come to our school, and as our underclassman, even!”

“Well, I do understand that it is unusual to have a fellow student who is also a detective... Though other people had quite different react—“

“Not because you were a detective Naoto, because of... you!” _Good job blurting that out, Yosuke!_

She seemed even more clueless now. “Yosuke-senpai, I really don’t follow what you’re trying to say...”

Damn it, he should know that beating around the bush wouldn’t be good with Naoto... He had to be crystal clear. That’s how she seemed to work when it came to stuff like this, as the love letters she received were very straightforward and she always understood the message, even if she rejected them all.

_...Not a good thought to have right now, Hanamura._

“B-because when we saw you when trailing Kanji, back then, I... I noticed you... And then I got a... crush on you.”

“A...” Naoto started repeating mechanically, until the full meaning of the word hit her, accompanied by a blush and slight eye widening. She looked sideways, then back at him. “You don’t mean... A-a crush as in, an infatuation?”

**_ Gulp._** “Y-yeah, that’s it! I...Erm...” He started to stutter. _What now?? What do I say???_

“I...I don’t understand... While I noticed your stare every now and then, I assumed it was just something you’d do to anyone... A-and there were no indications of anything of the sort all this time, yet you say you were infatuated since that long ago? I...” Her face suddenly darkened, eyebrows furrowing. The detective’s tone shifted to an inquisitive whisper. “Are you lying to me, senpai? To woo me, play games with me or something of the sort? I didn’t think you’d be the kind to—“

“Of course not, dammit!” His voice came out louder than he wanted, and he gulped nervously. Looking around to check on everybody, it seemed like no one had woken up. _Phew, that was close... _

“You say no, but—“ Naoto was still incredulous, albeit less menacing in her tone.

“And I **_mean_** no, Naoto! Gosh, I... I’m talking seriously here!” His voice was normal now, but his ears started getting hotter by the second. “And of course I didn’t let it show, I’m...! I had to... Deal with my own shit before that. Couldn’t have blurted it out before doing that.”

Her expression finally softened as her lips pursed, and the blush in her cheeks was more apparent.

“A-and I’m not really one to just blurt it out like this too! It’s just... You were on my shoulder, and it was _good_, so I just kinda...felt like I should... um...”

Okay, her blush was reaching peak levels right now. And the detective’s face was the epitome of embarrassment, too. Had it really been a good idea to just... spring the confession at her, in the middle of the trip? And while she was tired, too...

“I... “ He started feeling regret for confessing. Maybe the timing really was bad... And she seemed like she wanted to be anywhere but here... She didn’t even say a word to answer him!!

...And to him, that silence was enough of a reply.

“...You know what? Forget I said anything...” Putting a hand to his face, he felt it was burning of embarrassment. “This was...a bad idea. Sorry to just say it out of nowhere. You didn’t need that...” He didn’t even wait for a reply, and turned around to look at the window.

_Why did I confess? Why now?? _

**_'Might as well confront it now’ my ass!!_ **

He was stupid to think that, stupid to think it’d work out somehow. Maybe if he had prepared beforehand, had a gesture or gift of some kind... Maybe...? No, nonono, even then, he knew her answer would be the same. Stuff like that would only make her more embarrassed, while her answer would probably be the same... A big no. _This was stupid!! Stupid!!_

All he wanted right now was to disappear from the face of the Earth and go sulk somewhere far away in outer space. At least there he could be sad without anyone around, so there’d be no need to pretend or put up a front.

He felt something light leaving his lap. The hat he had placed there was gone; Naoto took it. _Yay._

_So stupid... _It was getting really hard to hold back the tears now._ Damn, rejection stings so much... I had forgotten how much it sucks..._

He felt something heavy weighting on his shoulder. What the hell was that?! _Don’t tell me Teddie woke up and came to pester me **now**, of all times?!_ _I **really **need some space now, dammi—_

...

It wasn’t Teddie. He knew how to tell the difference, from all the times the bear ended up sleeping on top of him.

This was different.

It felt familiar.

It was... warm...

....

....

He barely needed to move his face to see Naoto’s head lying on his shoulder once again, her face obscured by her hair in that position. Her hat was nowhere to be see—oh, on her lap.

** _WAIT HER HAT IS NOT THE PRESSING MATTER NOW--_**

“N-Naoto...?” Was all he could muster, a small whisper that made her slightly wince.

“D-D-Don’t say anything, please! Just stay quiet for a bit.”

“Um....... okay..?”

As all the blood from his body went to his head, he felt both extreme heat in his cheeks and a clarity in his thoughts like no other. A bazillion thoughts crossing his mind in the span of a few seconds seemed easy when the brain had all that oxygen as fuel.

_She lied on my shoulder again!! _

_She likes my shoulder!! _

_She said she kinda fell on my shoulder earlier, too!!_

_She likes me!! _

_Wait, Yosuke, you’re more genre-savvy than this...! _

_It’s probably just a misunderstanding..._

_And if she liked you back she’d have said it by now...!_

_But why did she lie on my shoulder again?!_

_Is this some kind of detective shenanigan?!_

_Is she really just ignoring my confession and doing her business or something?!_

_She’s probably just gonna get off me at any moment and go “Yup, I can confirm, your shoulder is around 37° Celsius or 98° Fahrenheit, you’re healthy” or whatever then never come close to me agai--_

“Hm...” Naoto let out, as she made a motion that could only be described as burying her face deeper in his shoulder, while hugging his arm.

Tomatoes aren’t red. Like, you could say they were, but that’s not really the real red, you know. There are many tones of red in nature, be it in certain animals, the darker shade of the sky in the sunset, or the aforementioned tomato. _Real_ red is seldom seen in nature, only really appearing in rare occasions.

Occasions such as in Yosuke’s face right now.

He had never been as red or as speechless as in this very moment. All he could do was stand paralyzed, while his brain registered the tenderness on his shoulder.

“I...”

She started, but took a few seconds to continue.

“...T-this is so embarrassing... I-I don’t even know what to say in this situation, good heavens...” She dared to look up at him, his flustered cheeks contrasting with his eyes that seemed to glint in the darkness of the train; eyes that were looking directly at her. Immediately, she looked back down, and seemed to loosen the grip on his arm... until she started to squeeze it harder. “L-Let’s actually... Not discuss anything at all for now, please... I have to recollect my thoughts about all this, a-and I don’t think I can properly do that until we get off the train and I can get some fresh air...”

“A-alright...” He managed to say, as he started getting used to the sensation of Naoto on his shoulder. It was nothing like what he had felt before, because now she was actively hugging him, practically.

What did all that right now mean? Like, it was kinda obvious what it meant, but still... He felt like he couldn’t be cautious enough. The fear of assuming something and then being disappointed later scared him... All that happened that night, the shoulder sleeping, and the confession, all seemed like the plot of some sloppily-written manga... or fanfiction; and that’s the _exact_ kind of medium where even the wildest things could be just misunderstandings. Could he really allow himself to just... relax and enjoy this moment? Knowing it wouldn’t last long?

“...But you were right.” She said, suddenly.

“Huh? A-about what?”

“Being on your shoulder is, in fact, good... F-for me, too, that is.”

....

“...I’m really glad to know.” He said, a heartfelt chuckle leaving his mouth soon after.

He...he _could_ relax. And enjoy this moment.

And he did just that, leaning his head over hers, careful so that he wasn’t weighting on her too much. She seemed to flinch a bit from the sudden movement, but then relaxed and demonstrated she welcomed the gesture by pushing her head just a tad bit more on his shoulder.

As his cheek got buried in those dark blue locks of hair, he closed his eyes, a shy smile on his face. All those troubled thoughts and worries from before couldn’t get to him now. Maybe there was stuff he still needed to unravel, things he would need to address more, and better... But there would be time for that.

Right now, the person he liked was lying their head on his shoulder, and hugging his arm; and in that moment, it was all that mattered.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!! ^^


End file.
